Shipping & Returns

PLEASE NOTE! UPS service guarantee are suspended if delays are caused by bad weather or other disasters.

Adafruit now has FREE SHIPPING via UPS ground for all orders over $200 to the contiguous United States. You’ll see FREE SHIPPING on check out if your order is $200 or over and to the contiguous United States. We’ve been shipping so many packages lately that UPS gave us great rates. So we now offer this as a great perk & added savings for our customers. This is an experiment for us, we’ll see what more we can do down the road – for customers in the USA, worldwide, and beyond!

ALL ORDERS SHIP FROM THE ADAFRUIT FACTORY, NEW YORK, NY, USA. WE SHIP FAST!

Processing & Shipping times

Orders usually ship within 1-2 business days. With the UPS 3day, 2nd day and Next day shipping option, orders placed by 11am ET during weekdays usually ship same day (We do not have Saturday service for UPS as an option). When you place your order, please allow time for processing in addition to the time it takes for the box to get to you once it has shipped. Once your order is shipped you will receive an email or two with any tracking information available -- you can check order status by logging into your account.

Keep in mind the UPS service guarantee are suspended if delays are caused by bad weather or other disasters. We cannot refund shipping fees if your package arrives late due to snow or other natural disasters UPS anywhere along your package's route. Meteors, natural disasters, aliens, terrorism, incursions from other dimensions, etc.

We may not be able to ship to hotels, mail forwarders and/or PO Boxes depending on location or if there are known issues with the location. USPS may not be available to all locations. If shipping / billing names do not match or the payment method is outside the USA we may cancel the order - please review the distributors in your area.

Overseas Military Mail

We ship free to U.S. Military APO/FPO addresses via USPS Priority mail. So no tracking, but, also, free. Make sure to enter city as APO or FPO and for state choose AA, AE or AP from the dropdown menu. And to make things really precise enter your full name, grade, and PSC or unit number.

Insurance & Claims

We now cover all packages with shipping insurance (yay!). This insurance covers damage and, more importantly, loss. The rates are $0.75 per $100 for domestic, $1.35 per $100 for international tracked, and $1.60 for international untracked, comparable to industry standards.

Returns

To arrange for a return use the contact form or email [email protected]. We can only accept returns of unopened kits and products, within 30 days of receipt (for international orders, 30 days from shipment). Any returns after 30 days are in store credit only if the return is approved in advance. All returns are credited as store credit upon receipt for international orders or for Paypal / Credit card orders after 30 days of payment. There is a 5% re-stocking fee for orders returned valued at $500 or more. Customers are responsible for return shipping costs unless the product arrives damaged or defective. Please contact us before returning any package! We're reasonable people and we hope you are too! Contact us if you have any issues and we'll do our best to help you out!

Shipping Options

Adafruit Industries uses two carriers, USPS (United States Postal Service) and UPS (United Parcel Service) for shipping. USPS is traditionally cheaper and does not provide detailed tracking. UPS is sometimes faster and a little more expensive, but has a high-quality tracking system. (Tracking information is emailed when the package is shipped). We do not offer Saturday delivery as an option for UPS at this time. When in doubt about choosing a shipping method, we suggest UPS.

For UPS shipping services actual weight is the package weight rounded up to the next whole pound. Adafruit uses Dimensional weight, this reflects package density, which is the amount of the space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. Dimensional weight may apply to all shipping services. For more information about Dimensional weight pricing and UPS's rates and fees visit UPS.com. Check out what Dimensional Shipping is in our video!

USPS has experienced many slow downs and delays - here's an overview of what we've seen for some customers. We do not ship USPS to some locations that have had known slow downs or issues.

We do not offer drop shipping or "blind shipment".

USPS First Class are untrackable. Once it has been sent it’s pretty much outside of our control. There is no way to track packages. They are also not guaranteed services. First class mail can take up to 2 weeks. First class mail us low cost and used at your own risk, it is only permitted for orders under $200. Insurance is automatically calculated and added to your order. Lost package claims may be filed between 45 and 90 days after shipment. USPS has experienced many slow downs and delays - here's an overview of what we've seen for some customers.

Priority Mail (USA) is now both guaranteed (up to $50) and trackable (package receives up to 8 scans during the shipping process). Priority mail can take up to 3-5 business days once shipped. Priority Mail is only offered for domestic orders under $200.

UPS Ground is low cost ground delivery, and is insured and tracked. Delivery time is not guaranteed, but is almost always under 6 days.

UPS 3-Day, 2-Day and Next-day are high-speed air delivery, and are insured and tracked. Delivery is guaranteed from when it is picked up and scanned by UPS, not necessarily when it is shipped. We have a daily UPS pickup, Monday through Friday, for same day shipment place orders by 11am ET.

All of the quoted transit times are in business days, and do not include weekends, US holidays, etc.

International Orders

International orders are shipped using USPS which is the US Postal Service, or UPS (United Parcel Service) International. For postal orders, the packages are handed off to your countries postal service for 'door-to-door' delivery. There are two options for postal shipment, First class international and Priority Mail Express International. For UPS International we offer International Worldwide UPS Saver, Expedited and Express. All international orders over $200 can only be shipped via UPS international worldwide.

First class international is untrackable. Once it’s been sent it’s out of our control. There is no way to track it and there is no proof of delivery or shipment. (That's why it’s so low cost!). It also doesn't have expedited brokerage, which means packages can "sit in customs" for up to 4-6 weeks. Although this is rare it does happen. Packages are sometimes not delivered at all (1% of cases), so this method is to be used at your own risk! However, it is generally fairly dependable, arriving with a week or two 95% of the time. Insurance is automatically calculated and added to your order. Lost package claims may be filed between 45 and 90 days after shipment. It is not a recommended service and only permitted for orders under $300.

Priority Mail Express International service service comes with tracking and is insured. It is more expensive but has expedited brokerage which means your package will zip through customs and has the added protection of $100 free insurance coverage. Additional insurance, if necessary, is automatically calculated and added to your order. We've rarely had an express package lost (although sometimes it will be returned if the destination address is wrong), and it is recommended for international packages.

UPS Worldwide Express: 1-3 Business Days. Delivery by 10:30 a.m. or 12:00 noon.UPS Worldwide Saver: 1-3 Business Days. Delivery by end of day.UPS Worldwide Expedited: 2-5 Business Days. Delivery by end of day.

You are responsible for any VAT, tariff, duty, taxes, handling fees, brokerage charges, customs clearance charges, etc. required by your country for importing consumer goods! UPS, first class and express mail are eligible for these fees. There is no way for Adafruit (the shipper) to predict your country's customs/fee habits, so be prepared to pay full VAT on the fully declared value of your order as well as any customs fees your countries UPS and/or postal system may charge you! There are some services that can estimate the duty/taxes, while they're not 100% accurate they can be helpful (Duty/Tax Calculator). Keep a printout of your email receipt as you may have to send a copy to your customs office or for UPS. If you do not pay the required brokerage fees, VAT, tariff, duty, taxes, handling fees, customs clearance charges, etc - we cannot issue any refunds.

Our shipping system is completely automated, and we cannot falsify customs forms. The customs forms will accurately describe the contents and cost of your order. We cannot mark orders as "gift", "sample", "educational" or lower the values. Adafruit's orders are shipped. Adafruit makes best efforts to follow all rules, regulations and laws for export compliance.